“Affordability” was the word of the year in Virginia politics in 2025.
“Affordability takes center stage in New Jersey, Virginia governor races,” ABC News‘ Benjamin Siegel wrote on November 2, 2025.
“Spanberger turns Virginia governor’s race into a test of Trump’s economy,” Politico’s Erin Doherty and Brakkton Booker wrote on October 29, 2025. “Spangberger has stuck to a message on the economy, specifically the cost of life for Virginians.”
“It’s not about inflation or the economy — the election instead delivered a ‘wake-up call’ on affordability politics, top pollster says,” Fortune’s Jason Ma wrote on November 8, 2025.
And Democrats won on this message.
Abigail Spanberger beat incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears while Democrats picked up seats in the state legislature. A post-election poll conducted by CBS News found that “‘economy’ voters voted for Abigail Spanberger over Winsome Earle-Sears by more than 20 points.”
Affordability carried the day — until Democrats actually got into office. Within weeks of Election Day, Virginia Democrats have made clear that “affordability” was never more than a campaign slogan.
House Bill 978 would dramatically expand Virginia’s sales and use tax to cover a ton of everyday services. Under the bill, taxes would be applied to gym memberships and fitness classes, dry cleaning, laundry services, pet care, home repairs and cleaning services, car repairs, delivery and shipping services, digital services and event planning.
In other words, the things that normal Virginians pay for to live their lives may soon cost more.
The revenue, meanwhile, is earmarked for transit authorities while another portion would be distributed on the “basis of the high-need student population in the locality.” The formula for “high-need student” includes students in social programs, special education, or English language learners.
Then comes Democrats’ anti-lawn crusade.
House Bill 881 would “Provide[s] that any locality with a population density of at least 2,500 persons per square mile may by ordinance prohibit or regulate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.”
Yet at the same time, House Bill 557 would establish “a separate classification of tangible personal property for electric-powered landscaping equipment in a trade or business and used to maintain commercial, public, or private gardens, lawns, trees, shrubs, or other plants, including lawn mowers, edgers, trimmers, leaf blowers, and chainsaws.”
In other words, Virginia Democrats are trying to ban gas-powered leaf blowers while raising the tax on electric landscaping equipment.
Proposed legislation House Bill 900 would add a retail and use tax on “any county or city that is a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission at a rate of 0.385 percent; any county or city that is embraced by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority but that is not a member of the Northern Virginia Commission at the rate of 0.615 percent … a retail delivery fee in the amount of 20 cents upon each retail delivery … and a regional highway use tax fee on all vehicles in the Commonwealth that are subject to the existing highway use fee.”
In other words, “retail delivery” like Amazon, Uber Eats, and other services will become more expensive for Virginians.
Spanberger announced that Virginia would be rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin removed the state from in 2021. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative raises Virginian’s electricity taxes, as admitted by the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council.
Democrats ran on “affordability,” won on “affordability,” and yet immediately set out to make daily life more expensive in nearly every way. Making gym memberships, lawn care, home repairs, deliveries and electricity more expensive are deliberate policy choices. Virginians were sold a lie in November, the rest of the country should take note as Democrats nationwide aim to reclaim control of Congress this fall. If they are promising “affordability,” voters should look to Virginia to see how seriously Democrats take their own promises.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
